Curse of the Black Lagoon
by ProdigiumDrew
Summary: This time, Gill-man finds himself framed for a crime he didn't commit. He extracts his revenge, but is wanted now, more than ever. After the accident in the third film, The Creature Walks Among Us, he is losing more and more of his creature likeness...becoming human. Will the law be able to track him? Or is he out for more revenge? Will update every other Tuesday for now.
1. Prologue - House of Fire

_Zz._

"Oh, I left my other bag inside," Marcia said aloud to herself as her foot touched the first step. She quickly turned around and walked back up to the front door. She turned the doorknob as the men inside were finally wrapping up the conversation of whether the experiment had failed or succeeded.

"This time, it only attacked when it was threatened," Dr. Morgan re-iterated. "When Barton threw Jed's body into his cage."

"But it still attacked; it killed Barton after the fact!" Borg replied.

"Yes, but Marcia said the marriage to Barton made _her_ feel like a trapped _creature_ ," Morgan replied, trying to hide his feelings for her.

"I guess it doesn't really matter in the end," Johnson countered. "The creature is gone. Let's just get out of here."

Dr. Morgan eyed Marcia as she made her way back into the house. "Can I help you with anything?"

"No. You gentlemen can go ahead. I just have to grab my other bag, and the taxi should be here any minute."

"Alright," he said as he grabbed his own luggage. "We will meet you at the airport."

"We will see," she teased. "Since we are flying to different cities."

"For now," He replied as he winked and closed the front door behind him.

The other men had already made their way down the stairs and were waiting.

"Should we give the police a call now...About the bodies?" Borg asked as he loaded their luggage into the back of the car.

"We'll ring them when we get to airport, tell them it was the monster. They already know he's in the area anyways."

"Sounds good," Morgan replied as he backed out of the driveway.

 _Zzz. Zzzz._

He felt his hands shaking in remorse…Not for his own actions, but for Barton's. Why had Barton killed Jed? Confusion. The love triangle? Rage. Murder. I mean, he had taken a life too, well, a few. But it _was_ different. Barton killed in jealously. _Is_ different. Self defense equals different.

His hands continued to shake, but he hadn't even looked down at them yet. He had been framed for a crime he didn't commit. Yet, I'm sure he wished he had made the advances...Running his half-webbed hands-if you want to call them that-through Marcia's locks. Longing eyes…just wanting someone to love. And for someone to love him back. Who could ever want a face like his; the face of a monster.

But he _only_ killed when he was threatened; when it was kill or be killed. Didn't he? Or did he even know anymore.

At first glance, the greenish color of his hands was still there. However, the webbed skin was almost gone. He groaned loudly, enough to wake the ocean's ancient sleeping beasts. He was turning into one of them. Into a human. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't he go back to the ocean? Besides, that was his first true love. Not Kay. Not Helen. The sea. Would he ever be able to swim as he once did...after everything that had happened?

He had torn through the house, leaving it a mess. But let's be honest, he had every right - Barton had killed Jed for making advances on his wife, Marcia...Then Barton picked Jed up and threw him in cage with him. He didn't kill Jed; Barton did. So what was he supposed to do?

He broke out and put an end to Barton. Did that make him a monster? Or just another almost human? He had to kill. Or be killed because of the blame; because of the frame. If he didn't kill Barton, surely Barton would have convinced Marcia that he was on the one who had killed Jed; no matter what kind of creature-or monster-he was.

Barton was nothing more than a lying coward, and Marcia was everything. He didn't deserve her, and she deserved the truth.

"And I thought the Mississippi was something."

"Testing. One, two, three four."

So many voices. Flashbacks; his head was spinning as he tried thinking straight. He wondered if Marcia had even made it out of the house.

 _Zzzz. Zzzzzz._

"Where is my bag?" She said aloud. _Impossible to find in this mess._

 _Zzzzzz. Zzzzzzzz._

Running. Running faster, faster. He wasn't really sure why, but something was wrong. He felt it. He was just trying to get away...but something drew him back. ...the house finally came into his line of sight.

 _Zzz. Zzzz. Zzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzz._ The electric fence that once kept him from the outside world had long collapsed…Lighting anything the sparks could reach. A blade of glass here and there. A shrub. The sparks licked the heels of a tree.

It wouldn't be long before he heard sirens…He just hated the noise, but something was off. He arrived just in time to see a burning tree collapse into the roof of the house…Flames licked the shingles and found their way into the newly exposed cracks in the ceiling.

He heard a shriek, and seconds seemed like hours as the flame spread throughout the house.

"Help!" It was Marcia! She was in trouble.

No matter how much hate for humanity he had built up, he couldn't let her suffer. As quickly as he could, he jolted up the stairs…passing Barton's dead body to the right. Jed's was back in his cage. By this point, the house was completely engulfed in flames. Why not head on in. Besides, not like he hadn't been burned in the accident...When the men were trying to capture him and take him away from home. That's what had started his awful transition to humanism. Before the fire, and whatever surgery the doctors performed to save him, he didn't even know he had lungs.

He burst through the front door and charted a course through his own rage and wreckage. He glanced into the first bedroom. Nothing. No one. Something had to give; where was she?

After searching in the common area, he tripped over a rug and landed shoulder first into a burning table. He groaned loudly as he stood his feet. He look at his shoulder, his skin was peeling as far as he could see up his neck.

"Help!" She squealed once she realized someone was in the house.

She had to be in the other bedroom.

He glanced at his hands again...He could have sworn the green was wearing off, but it was to hard to tell because of the ashy film that was starting to layer his skin. The smoke was getting dense, and he knew he didn't have much time to save her.

He stumbled into the other bedroom to find Marcia backed up against the wall...flaming bed and dresser in the way of her exit. He looked her directly in the eyes, and she looked back into his. For a moment, before her eyes closed, it felt as if they had connected...At least to him. Does he grab her? Did she lie in his eyes because she knew he was her only hope?

Think fast. He reached under the dresser, gripping it - making contact with the flame. After letting out a loud groan, he forcefully flipped the dresser over on the bed. He bolted through the new path and quickly lifted her up into his arms. He trudged out of the hole in wall where the door used to be. Was this finally freedom?

After inhaling a breath of fresh air, he looked around for a place away from the fire to lay her down. Or should he just take her to the shore as her final resting place?

With her in his arms, he began the walk back to beach.

Sirens finally sounded in the distance. Maybe he should have left her body next to her husbands, but she didn't seem to care for him anyway. Beach is best. And after miles of walking, he finally reached it.

As soon as he felt the sand around his feet, he gently placed her on the ground. Had they connected? When she looked him in the eyes...it was deep. Or was she honestly pleading for his help. He'd never know...But in a way, he felt as if he had lost more than Barton ever did.

He fell to his knees next to Marcia's body, moaned, and began to crawl towards the oceans. He wasn't sure how he had even tolerated the smoke for as long as he did, but it didn't matter. He had been burned. Webbed hand after webbed hand. Except for the first time, he noticed that his hands weren't really webbed at all. They actually looked like human hands. Did that make him a product of his own anger? A product of the Jealousy that possessed Barton to kill Jed? Was he guilty? He still couldn't even think straight.

Another breath of fresh air...but this time the breeze was home to a light hint of salt.

Right before he reached the water, he brought himself to his feet so he could feel the waves crash at his heels. He looked down to see the water washing away the ash. As each wave broke, his skin became lighter and lighter. No more scales, no more green. He was human.

How would his lungs even work in the water? He was still confused and didn't care. He just wanted to be free...moving deeper and deeper into the water.

He thought he heard a faint sound from behind him, but he kept going deeper until there was nothing but his head above the surface.

He heard it again; it was a feminine voice coming from the shore

"Wait!"


	2. Chapter One - Reflected

"Marcia!" Thomas shouted as he grabbed the ringing phone.

"Sir, may I take a moment of your time to tell you about our newest product..." The voice trailed on and on, but Thomas cared less and less. He eventually dropped the receiver and went back to missing her.

One of these days, he thought as he scratched his head...wondering where his love had gone. Why hadn't she contacted him? Did the creature capture her? Was it even safe to go back to the house-well, whatever was even left of the house-to look for her? Although the past few weeks had felt like a decade, had she even thought of him? Did she even care?

He'd waited this long...What's another day?

"Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding." There it was again...Another telemarketer. Marcia?

He grabbed the receiver and quickly answered, "Hello, Marcia!?"

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," a rusty voice chuckled from the other line.

"Hey, it isn't funny mister," Thomas replied.

"Oh, it's funny."

Thomas could tell the man was older by his voice alone; probably a smoker. Cigarette stained lips. "What's the purpose of your call before I hang up on you, you old bastard."

"Now, now. Besides the girl, tell me it isn't that damn creature you seek?"

"What creature?" Thomas retorted.

"What creature? What creature you ask?"

"Yes, What creature? I'm asking."

"You know what creature. I've been following that damned monster since we first crossed paths in the Black Lagoon. Before man made him a real monster. So yes, I know who you are...and I know that you know about the creature."

"What do you want from me?"

"I want you to help me find it, and I want to kill it. Once and for all."

"What has it done to you?" Thomas asked.

"For starters, taken the life of most my crew...Almost took my life."

"And how can I help you find it?"

"Oh, you know how you can help me. The girl's name you shouted into the receiver upon answering this call..."

"I'm not bringing her into this madness."

"Oh?" the old man replied. "Out of all the naïve." He paused. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what exactly?"

x-x-x

"Will you stop it!" A feminine voice shouted from the hall. "Stop staring in the mirror. That isn't going to help, you know."

He stood in the bathroom...the mirror. Some of his features were human; some weren't. What gene even determined how fast he'd transform? Or if he'd even finish transforming at all? Only time would tell...That is, if he had time.

He let out a loud groan as he took another glance into the mirror...But the light began to fade.

Déjà vu. All just a dream.

He couldn't believe it had been a few weeks already. A few weeks since he had heard her voice softly calling him from the beach as he was moving to certain doom beneath the waves. He probably couldn't even breathe underwater anymore. At least, not without his gills.

"Wait!"

The creature turned around and saw her standing there on the beach.

"You aren't what they say you are. You saved my life," Marcia shouted. "You aren't a monster," her voice echoed.

He just stared at her...Then looked down at the water to see his reflection. Black streaks and ash marked his rough, green complexion. He tried forcing a smile, but his face couldn't stand it. Scales-that's what the humans called them-held the smile back.

"Come," she said as she waved.

I'm hideous...How could she ever love a face like mine. At least, like this. Maybe I should stick my face in the burning rubble of the house...Maybe that'll make her love me. When I look like a human. But will I even be able to speak their tongue?

"Come," she said again. "You aren't a monster."

Say it again. I want to hear you say that again.

"I don't want anyone to hurt you...I want to help."

He looked up from his reflection to see at her again. She stood there in the sand...Completely flawless.

"Mmweh." Well that didn't come out right. He groaned. Fine. "FINE!" He began to work his way back through all of the water he had covered...slowly making his way to her.

"That's it," she said. "I won't hurt you."

Famous last words. But for some reason, he trusted her. Besides, he had already given her everything that was left of his heart when he saved her from the fire...He had lost any chance left to return to the ocean.

A few more steps and he'd be on the sand.

"Thank you," she said as she walked closer to him. "For what you did. You could have left me in the house to die, but you didn't. And the cops...they're going to be after you. And whatever scientists that want to research you."

He groaned even louder and turned away.

"But I won't let them," She said as she gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'll protect you."

He stopped reminiscing, focused on the mirror, and the lights slowly returned to the bathroom. Only thing he could think about was how much he had loved her touch...her gentle hand on his shoulder.

Another look in the mirror and he groaned again.

"Will you cut it out already. It's only been three weeks. AND I promised I'd protect you for what you did. Or at least, get you to where you can function as one of us...so no one suspects anything. Then you can live your life however you want."

"I CAN'T EVEN TALK," he screamed in his mind. Let alone for someone to think I look normal with this face.

"Give it time," she said as she walked up from behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

That feeling...It gave him life.

"You will see. You've come a long way from what you used to be. Even if you killed my bastard husband; he deserved it. At least you can tell who has mischief on their mind and who doesn't."

He looked at her with his longing eyes. Half wanting to return to the sea; half wanting to be human...to be with her.

"Now will you go to the couch and let me continue teaching you to read."

His eyes widened and her heart dropped as they both heard the sound from the front door. "Knock, knock, knock."


	3. Chapter Two - Halo of Flies

"Is she really?" Thomas asked...his tone more worrisome with every word.

"Yes. She's been keeping him in that house."

"For how long now? How do you know? Are you spying on her?"

"Not on her. On him, and to be honest...I'm not quite sure. But she's in my way, and I don't want to have to hurt her."

"I don't even know who you are. Nor do I care. I'll kill you if you even think about hurting her; I'll kill you and the creature."

"Relax, relax. The reason for this call is that so we can work together. You want one thing, I want another...and working together, we can both get what we want. You get the girl, and I get the monster."

"What's your name? Your trade?"

"You can call me Captain Lucas...my steamer is _Rita_."

"When you said you lost half your crew...You weren't kidding. You've dealt with the monster before, haven't you?"

"Oh, I've dealt with him alright, but he slipped out of our grasp. Not going to let that happen again."

"I don't blame you, and I don't want to lose my girl to this monster. So what are we going to do?"

"Isn't that the million dollar question?" Lucas replied.

"You know where the house is right? Should we just show up...You can bring your harpoon or whatever?"

"That would have worked a few weeks ago, but not now. As each day passes, this sucker becomes more and more human. To the point that I'd almost be committing murder should the police see me kill this monster."

"I see."

"So we need to work quick; before he finishes his human transformation. But we also need to work quietly."

"Just so as long as you think it can be done."

"Well, seeing both of our current situations...we really don't have much of a choice."

x-x-x

"Go to the bedroom," she said as she motioned for the creature to hide. "You know we can't take any chances."

He nodded as best he could and made his way to the bedroom.

"Everything will be alright."

"Knock, knock, knock," the door demanded.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Marcia said as she made her way towards the front door. She took a deep breath and slowly grabbed the handle. _Here goes nothing...Knowing Thomas, he probably found me...and is coming to put and end to this creature. And I love Thomas, but I can't. This thing saved my life, and I owe it mine. He's come so far in the last few weeks...I can't just give up._

She opened the door slowly and peeked through the crack. _Whew, it isn't Thomas._ "What can I do for you, sir?" She asked as she realized it was the landlord.

"For starters, you can pay me the money you owe me," he said as he stepped into the doorway.

"Excuse me," Marcia said as she stood her ground, not letting him enter.

"Excuse me is right. _I_ own this house, and I expect you to pay per our agreement."

"I did pay. I left the check in an envelope in your mailbox...Just as you asked."

"Oh, did you?" He asked as he raised his voice and forced his way by her into the house. "Then why wasn't it in my mailbox when I checked it?"

"I'm not sure," she replied.

"Why aren't you sure, woman?" He asked as he shoved her out of his way, knocking her to her knees.

She began to tear up, "Why are you doing this? I paid you!"

"Then where is it?" He screamed.

A loud crash from the bedroom.

"I'm...I'm...I'm not sure," She stuttered.

"What the hell was that noise?" He asked as he glared at her. "Never mind, I'll find out for myself." He walked past her as she shook her head in tears.

"Don't go back there," she pleaded.

He ignored her and stepped into the bedroom. "WHAT THE..."

Silence. A blur in the doorway as a the creature slung him across the room.

By the time she made it, he was already dead. His body lay on the floor by the bed...Several broken bones.

"At least you still have your strength, but we're going to have to leave," She said to him. "And we're going to have to leave soon. You can't keep killing like this."

He glared at her, and she knew what he meant. _I had no other choice...he hurt you. You're taking care of me, and I'm going to take care of you...Even if it means more killing._

"I know, I know. It isn't your fault. I just want to know what happened to the rent? I dropped it in his mailbox. Just as he had asked me to. Who could have taken it? A common thief? It just doesn't make any sense."

The creature let out a groan.

"What if someone knows we are here?"

He shook his head no. Besides, it was almost impossible for someone to have found them...They'd covered every track.

"What are we going to do with this body!? Do we just leave?"

A nod.

"You're right. We've got to get out of here; I'm going to pack my things."

He reached his hand out to the dresser and grabbed his cowboy hat.

"Not a bad idea, wear it low...try to cover as much of your face as possible."

An even louder groan.

"I didn't mean it like that," she said as she playfully punched his arm and smiled. "You've come so far...Except for your head, you're human. It shouldn't even take much longer for you to change. I'm just hoping we will actually be able to communicate soon. Like, I want to hear your voice," she said and looked up at him. _Don't kid yourself,_ she thought. _I mean, I do owe him my life...but there's no way I'll be ever to give it to this thing. Not after what it's done...It can't even talk. I'm being silly._

 _She wants to hear my voice. One day...One day I'll be able to tell her how I really feel. How we were meant for each other._

He watched Marcia close the lid on her suitcase and zip it shut. She went to lift it, but he beat her to it.

"Oh, why thank you," she said in return as she looked up at him and took his free hand in hers. "You don't have to," She said as looked deep into his eyes. She took a step back to look at his face, and didn't let go of his hand. It fit perfectly into hers.

Despite most of his face still being green, some of the scales had shed leaving various patches of perfect skin underneath. His nose still jutted out a little farther than any humans...A little deformed and wrinkly; almost as wrinkly as his forehead. She looked at his lips...The upper lip naturally turned up...Both lips were still red, but not quite as dark as they once were.

"If only," he said aloud.


End file.
